Glenn Reeves: Roles reversed in Serra-St. Francis football series

For years the St. Francis football team dominated Serra, its Peninsula neighbor in the West Catholic Athletic League. The Lancers won 33 in a row from 1973 to 2005.

They won in 1990 when Serra went on to win a Central Coast Section 3A title. They won in the years Tom Brady was Serra's quarterback.

Serra ended the losing streak in 2006 and has gone 4-3 since. The Padres (6-1, 4-0), ranked No. 1 by the Mercury News, goes into Friday's game at No. 7 St. Francis as the favorite.

"Serra is always a big rival for St. Francis," St. Francis running back and safety Landon Baty said. "My sophomore year was the first time they beat us at St. Francis. That left a foul taste in my mouth. We want to bring back the legacy and tradition to St. Francis.''

St. Francis won at Serra 24-0 late last season, part of an impressive run of defensive outings to close the season. The Lancers allowed only seven points over their last four games and won the CCS Division II championship.

But since then Chris Vasseur, the St. Francis defensive coordinator last season, has become the Serra defensive coordinator. Likewise, Steven Lo has moved from St. Francis, where he was a line coach, to Serra to become offensive coordinator.

"It's going to be very strange," Vasseur said. "A lot of crazy emotions. I love those kids.''

St. Francis (5-2, 2-2) is coming off a 13-12 loss to Archbishop Mitty in which an attempt at a winning field-goal was blocked as time expired. The Lancers also lost to Bellarmine College Prep 21-14 in another game that went down to the final seconds before being decided.

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"Those were devastating losses,'' Baty said. "I felt we outplayed both of them. We were real distraught after the Mitty game. But come Saturday we knew we had Serra next. The senior captains have been talking about that since last spring.''

St. Francis knows it needs to win out to have a chance of taking part in the CCS Open Division playoffs. Serra will be going after its seventh win in a row since a season-opening loss to De La Salle.

"It's a huge game for them and a huge game for us," Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. "Football doesn't get any better than this. This is why I love coaching at Serra and playing in this league. The Bay Area's best football will be on display Friday night."